


On the Road to Healing

by rosy_sharpe



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Annie Dalton, F/M, Grieving MacRiley, Pain!, RIP Jack Dalton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:48:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosy_sharpe/pseuds/rosy_sharpe
Summary: Riley and Mac grieve Jack’s death and decides to drive the GTO on a road trip to go see his sister (I’ve decided to name her Annie Dalton) and check on her.
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016) & Riley Davis, Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All my ships are single unless I say they aren't, also if I don't mention a specific person its cause I don't want to or they don't exist in my perfect fictional world so enjoy!

~After everyone gets off the plane, they head to the Phoenix~

“All right everyone, I know how much of an emotional toll Jack’s death has been plus this mission has been difficult so this is your official order to go home and take a break. I’m going to try my best to not call you back in anytime soon, so take this opportunity to rest and grieve. Understood?” Matty asked.

A few nods and yeses are heard around the room, including lots of big sighs as everyone can definitely agree that they do in fact need a break to recuperate. Riley not finding it in herself to stick around to make small talk heads straight for the door. Mac realizing that she’s leaving chases after her and catches her in the hallway.

“Riley wait, before you head out, I was thinking of visiting Annie since she didn’t stick around for the wake at my house. I was hoping you’d come with since Matty says we have a little break, figured it’d be a nice little drive. We can end the trip with the movie marathon afterwards but I wanted to let her know that we finished his mission”.

“Yeah, I’m in. I’d love to see her. I felt bad I was in my own self-wallowing bubble that I didn’t get to talk to her before she left.”

“All right, I’ll plan everything and message you with the pick-up time”.

“Sounds good, I’m tired so I’m going to head out. See you tomorrow”.

“Okay, and Riles… if you need anything or just want to talk then call me anytime you want and I’ll be there”.

“Thanks Mac and the same goes for you.”

~Later that night~

“Hey Annie, the car got here safely and I’m going to drive it to give to Riley then we’ll head over to your place”. “Sounds perfect, I know she’ll love the surprise. I can’t wait to see you guys”.

“Yeah, she will and we’re excited to see you too. Good night Annie”.

“Good night, Mac see you soon”.

With the emptiness of the house now glaringly obvious Mac finds himself lying in bed as he analyzes the pass few days. Sleep is hard to come for him on most night but this night more so than others after all that happened. His exhausted mind chooses to think about nicer thoughts instead …like Riley and he wonders about how she’s dealing with Jack and now add Vitez to her grievances. She had to see Bozer get shot, something he couldn’t imagine dealing with. His mind can’t help but make him think about how he came this close to losing the last two family he had left. If that had happened he wouldn’t have had any issues with quitting the phoenix to go hunt Vitez down if she managed to kill not one but three of the most important people in his life. And as he finds himself slipping into that dark place, his phone rings, as soon as he sees Riley’s name and picture across the screen he quickly answers.

“Hey, sorry did I wake you?”

“No, you definitely didn’t, I’m having a hard time shutting down my brain to fall asleep and I’m guessing you’re going through the same thing”

“Yeah, I think I’ve had a permanent head ache since I learned about Jack’s death but tonight its even more intense…I just really miss him you know. With the mission as a distraction, I was able to try and compartmentalize it but now that Kovacs is done with the satisfaction and peace I thought I would gain from it… is just not enough I still feel empty inside”.

Riley sighs and turns on her side with the phone on speaker and placing it on the pillow next to her. In the silence that follows her confession, Mac decides to open up.

“I think about how I’ll never see him here again. He’ll never sit on the deck with a beer in his hand while retelling and exaggerating the last mission we went on, all to bring us some joy and laughter after a hard mission. What’s worse is even now in the silence of this big house, I still hear the echo of his loud laughs after telling his terrible jokes and just like his presence his laugh carries and fills the whole space. I think a part of me chooses to believe it’s him sticking around so we don’t lose him all at once and so he can make sure we’re both all right.”

He sighs sadly with a ghost smile on his face then he continued “ you know I think at some point I subconsciously stopped asking other people for their phones because with Jack it brought me so much joy to annoy him” he lets out a small choked up chuckle, “…and when he left it wasn’t the same, breaking someone else’s phone without them complaining and telling me to stop at the store to pay for their new one it was one of the best highlight of my hacks… I don’t think I’ll ever stopped missing him Riles, it was different with him being gone on a mission cause at least he had a chance of coming back but now the knowledge that he’ll never come back is too hard to handle. I feel like the last familiar thread that was still holding me together these last few years has been cut so sudden and now I’m slowly falling into some unknown dark place and the last time I went there” he takes a brief pause and sighs deeply, “… the last time I went there, it was really hard for me to come back and I don’t think I can recover from it knowing there’s no jack reunion to look forward to this time around” he ends his speech solemnly.

“Oh Mac, I’m here I won’t let you go there alone” and she wanted nothing more than to be face to face with him so she could pull him into a hug feeling her heart breaking even more at his confession.

“I know Riles, I just didn’t want overwhelm you, you’re grieving too and I didn’t want my dark thoughts to overshadow yours”.

“Believe me, it helps knowing that I’m not alone in fact it’s the one thing right now that’s keeping me sane, I just feel so lost once again. I spent these last few years planning for everything we were going to do together but I never prepared myself for life without him. My heart aches and wants to have him back here with us, life will never be the same without Jack. It’s not fair… it’s not fair that Vitez gets to be alive in a cell but Jack didn’t get to come home to our family with open arms. It’s not fair that he died over there all by himself surrounded by people he didn’t trust when we could’ve had his back. There was still so much I wanted to do with him and so many life moments I imagined him being present for.

More than anything I regret never fully thanking him for bring you all into my life and in the process creating our little family that I couldn’t imagine life without. There’s so much I learned about being an agent from watching him, I wanted him to come back and see that growth …and tell him that he made the right decision because I’ve become a better agent and women because of him. I wanted Jack to know that when he has our backs that’s when I felt the safest in the field. Looking at my life now I can tell that he had the biggest influence in the best parts of it and I never told him that… and I really really regret not telling him that Mac”.

“He knew Riles, I have no doubt that he did. I made it my priority to let him know every time we spoke about how amazing you are and how you’ve been holding us together since he left. He was really proud of the family that he created and I think he always knew that you were the missing piece that our team was missing and that’s why he fought so hard to bring you to us. Because he knew this family would last way past his time and that we’d always have each other because of him”. Mac listens as he hears the deep and tearful breath Riley takes in which interrupts the silence they’ve been in and she ask in a croaked up voice, “Mac, can you tell me a Jack story”

“I can do that, in fact I’ll tell you about the time he made me celebrate our first mananniversary. He made us go to Greenland because you know he was expecting a nice warm place to vacation and relax after Cairo” he continues with a smile on his face already in a better mood. “But of course, the people who we were fighting in Cairo followed us. On our way to the hotel they ambushed us and after Jack lost all his fire power and I used all the parts of the car that were useful to make weapons we left the car behind and retreated in the woods we ran through miles of snow to avoid them shooting at us. We used our wilderness skills to hide our tracks and at some point right before we gave up from exhaustion we found a nice empty cabin and holed out there till we could contact the extraction team. So of course, it was freezing and we had to go back out there to collect fire wood and Jack decided….”

Mac so engaged in his story as he describes all the ways Jack decided to be loud leading the bad guys to discover their location. Realized he never noticed the silence that came from Riley’s side of the phone until he heard the soft snores, then realized that his story helped and she was finally able to fall asleep. With a smile on his face he whispers “good night Riles” and places the phone on his pillow, finding peace and comfort for the first time as he falls asleep to the rhythm of her snores.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my ships are single unless I say they aren't, also if I don't mention a specific person its cause I don't want to or they don't exist in my perfect fictional world so enjoy!

~ The next day ~

Riley stands by the curb and sees Mac pull up in Jack’s GTO.

“Mac, how’d you get it here. I thought Jack left it in Annie’s garage”

“Well, you know Jack, it was a very long will and testament and although most of it did not make any sense like him asking me to polish the outside of his DVD collection daily” she chuckles and he rolls his eyes “one of them was very specific and it stated that Riley gets the GTO”.

Riley brings her hands to her mouth “Oh my God, Mac are you kidding?”

“I definitely am not, Jack wrote a separate manual from the will on how to clean and take care of the GTO which I printed 100-page and stored in the glove box. But the headline of it was that his most prized possession goes to his most prized person and that’s you…just as long as you wash your hands before driving it of course”.

The loud chuckle she let out as she shakes her head is the first time Mac has seen her allow herself to feel joy since receiving the news and he’s even more proud of himself for getting the car delivered knowing he made her found her smile again.

“Annie would’ve told you since she got the will but I wanted it to be a surprised and for it to be closer to home for you. It got delivered at the perfect time, I figured after last night it would help raise your spirits a little bit”.

“It did, thank you so much” she places her hands now over heart “now please scoot over, it’s time I finally get to drive this baby”

Chuckling he moves over while Riley slides in the driver seat then puts the car in drive. She paused for a moment smiling and shaking her head in disbelief that she gets to drive it. Then Mac sees the frown coming back and he knows she’s already feeling sad again.

“Are you all right, Riles.”

“Yeah, I just hate that it took him dying to be able to drive it. I always thought it would be with him in the passenger seat… not that I don’t love having you here but you know it’s just not how or with who I expected it.”

“I understand Riles, this should’ve been a happier moment with you and him”.

Mac puts his hands over hers and rubs his thumbs on her knuckles felt her hand tremble beneath his so he firmly grasped her hand and squeezed. With his hands on hers she finally lets her feet off the gas and starts the 2-hour drive. Knowing they both currently need the physical and emotional support none of them let go as Riley tries her best to drive with one hand. When she felt her hand starting to cramp, she chose to squeeze his hand again instead of letting go to ease some of the tension in her hand. They both savor the silence that is always so easily comfortable when it’s just the two of them. With the wind in their hair, they allow themselves to get lost in their though. Never letting their thoughts stray too far knowing they’re both anchored to each other through their hands. So, each time their thoughts stray too far and the sea of grief tries to swallow them, they repeatedly squeezed each other’s hand to remind themselves that they’re not alone.

~ Annie’s home ~

After 2 hours of silent hand holding, Riley finally slips her hand out of his to park the car in Annie’s driveway. After turning off the engine, they sit in silence again staring in each other’s eyes, this time in a stun silence with none of them quite knowing how to talk about that gesture or why it felt so nice to be held by one another. Annie hears the car and watches the due through the window, seeing that they won’t be getting out of the car on their own anytime soon she goes to open the door. The brunette version of Jack comes out and that’s all it takes for them to break the intense eye contact. As big smiles replace their confused face and they get out of the car to be embraced in Jack’s love again.

“I’m so happy to see you Annie and I loved the surprise”

“Awww I’m glad Riley, I agreed with Mac when he proposed it to be a nice surprise and it looks like it was” knowing she just witnessed a moment between the two. “I’m so glad you guys are here, come on in. I tried to clean up as best as I can but I’ll admit its been hard trying to care about the state of my home lately”.

“There’s no need to apologize, my house looks like it got hit by tornado it would have Bozer going into stressed mode if he ever saw it”. Mac cringed knowing he is not lying and he has truly been ignoring cleaning up. “

Well good, and how is Bozer?”

“He’s been holding good just trying to be positive so he can work through it in his own way” Riley answers.

“I'm glad he's holding on all right, well I made lunch figured you’d be hungry from the drive”. “

Yes, I am starving actually” Mac replied.

“You know even though I knew you guys were coming my heart still fluttered when I saw the GTO pulled in thinking it was him. Seeing you drive that car Riley, it makes me really happy Jack always knew it was yours from the moment he took you to that arcade in it” Annie says choking up, “Oh God I’m sorry guys as you can see I’m still a mess and its why I couldn’t find the strength to stay and talk to people at the wake. Every time I think about him it leads to me realizing he’s gone and I won’t ever get to have him annoy me again with his bad jokes all to try and make me”. “I understand, I was telling Riley last night that I felt the same way, I miss him and the joy his presence brought us”.

“Yeah he was really good at bringing the best out of everyone, I’ll always miss that” Riley says solemnly.

Seeing the forlorn look in Riley’s’ face, Annie says “You want to know something I wasn’t lying when I said he knew the car would be yours. After taking you to the arcade in it that first time, he called me to tell me about how you all bonded that day and that you might be the only person he’d trust with that car cause of how attentively you listened to all his rules”.

Finally seeing the wide smile overtaking her whole face everyone felt the sorrowful mood lift a little bit as they all smile fondly thinking of their own Jack memory. So, everyone pitched in their own stories as they all replay their own fond memories of Jack amplifying his presence in the room with all their love for him. Riley and Mac felt at ease and at home talking about him to someone else who loved him as much as they do, they all relish and listen to all of their best memories of him combined.

They stayed at Annie’s for a few hours talking about Jack, then said their good byes. Each promising Annie to make visiting a recurring thing so she can see GTO as much as their job will allow them to. Back in the car without Annie serving as a buffer anymore, the silence returns, none of them knowing how to start the conversation they need to have about what happened beforehand.

“Do you still feel up for movie night at my place, we can pick up dinner on the way. I know it’s been a long day but… I don’t really want this to end”.

“Yeah me too, how about that pasta place downtown.”

“I can definitely go for some carbs right now”

“Great, pasta and movie night it is.”

~ Back at Mac’s ~

After a nice quiet drive back and consuming all the pasta they could eat, the two-settle next to each other on the couch playing the first of the many movies Jack left them. Halfway into the movie, Mac decided to break the silence, “you know I didn’t really plan to go visit Annie today, I made it up on the spot at the phoenix. I was going to pick you up and give you the GTO then start our movie marathon but I didn’t want you to go through our first day back from the mission alone especially after all that happened yesterday. I figured it’d be best to be around people who miss Jack as much as you do. So, I made the trip up and I think a small part of me selflessly planned it so I wouldn’t be alone, I think we both needed the company. I’m truly afraid of my brain shutting down and fearing for what might come out of that. So, even after tonight end, I want you to know that if you need me, for anything like you hearing another Jack story to fall asleep again, I have a lot of those and it’s actually therapeutic for me to relive them. I just want to enforce the idea that I will be here for you anytime you need… always”.

Bringing him in for a hug Riley settles her cheek on his shoulders, “Thank you, and it works both way Mac, I’m here for you too. I know your instinct will tell you to try and deal with it alone but ignore that voice and I will be persistently checking up on you for the next few weeks to make sure of it”.

“I’ll welcome it actually, I think we both need each other… I know for a fact that I’ll always need you” he says softly.

Feeling the atmosphere in the room change with that statement they pull away from the hug still holding each other tightly, they find themselves back to looking in each other’s eye for the second time that day. Their heart beats louder, eyes widen, and their breathing gets heavier as they feel each other’s mouth create a magnet that pull their faces toward one another as the distance between their faces dwindle, their anticipation and need rises. Till finally their lips meet and the two let out a deep sigh for it feels like finally the universe makes sense and is perfectly aligned for they could swear they can see all the stars in the galaxy explode behind their eyelids. They stay with their lips interlocked, as they communicate through the kiss to tell each other their gratefulness and love for one another. Love… that’s all they can feel in that moment absolute mind-blowing love, something they’ve both craved and needed for as long as they’ve lived. They pull their lips away to greet each other with the biggest smile and the two chuckles and hurriedly went back to kissing each other again until their lungs started to demand air. They pull away and Mac places soft kisses all over her face as they both get lost in their love feeling so complete for once in their lives. He brings her into his arms, turns off the TV and takes her to bed knowing an even better sleep aid alternative awaits that’s even better than previously listening to each other’s voices and snores on the phone from the night before. For tonight, they both feel so at peace and will have no issue falling fast asleep, cuddling together for all the many restless nights to come.

~ The end! ~


End file.
